Combined steering and driving axle.



No. 877,835. PATENTED JAN. 28, 1908.

P. DANIEL.

COMBINED STEERING AND DRIVING AXLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.12, 1907.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

INVENTOR fczazficuzz'ez mrg W/TNESSES No. 877,885. PATENTED JAN. 28,1908. P. DANIEL.

COMBINED STEERING AND DRIVING AXLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.12. 1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

lNVENTOH laaZfian z'e' A TTORNE rs WITNESSES of the Re ublicof France,and a resident of PAUL DANIEL, or NEW YORK, NY.

COMBINED STEERING AND'DRIVING AXLE.

No. 877,835. I

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented-Tan. 2a, 1908.-

Application filed March 12. 1907. Serial He. 361.930.

To all ibhom it-may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL DANIEL, a-citizen thccity New York,'borough offManhattan,

I in the county and Stateof New York, have invented a new and ImprovedGombined Steering and Driving Axle, of'which the following 1s a full,clear, and exact description.

. Thisinvention-relates to certain improvements in motor vehicles, andrelates more particularly to means whereby the same axle uponlwhichthe-steering-wheels aremounted I may also'receive power to'propel. oraid in the ropelling of t e vehicle.

T e invention consists incertain features of constructionandcombination-of parts, all of which will' be fully set forth hereinafterand particularly pointed out in the claims. Reference is to be hadto theaccompanying drawings forming a partof this specification, in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both thefigures, in which Figure 1 is a plan' view ofa portion of a vehicleembodying my invention; and Fig.

2 is a vertical section showing a detail construction of one embodimentthereof.

In my improved vehicle, the vehicle body, not shown, is supported uponsprings 10 rigidly secured to a cross support 11 extending from a pointadjacent one of the steering wheels to a point adjacent the oppositeend. The entire Weight of the adjacent portion of the vehicle body andits operating mechanism rests directly upon this cross'sup ort and saidweight is transmitted to the w eels b means of the steering knuckles 12.Each steering knuckle comprises a spindle portion 13 mounted to rotatewithin a collar 14 carried by the cross member 11 and supportedtherefrom by an anti-friction l' 15 ofany suitable character. One end ofthe spindle extends through the collar 14 and is rovided with suitablemechanism to hold it in les to the spindle 13, and comprises a hol-.

l ow cylindrical sleeve 19 concentric to and extending through thevehicle Wheel. The sleeve 19 is preferably integral with the spindle 13and is formed of cast steel or other suitable material, although it isevident that the stee 7 'knuckle maybe made up: off a plurality separateparts if desired.

The vehicle wheel may have a rim 20,.tire 21, and spokes 22 of anysuitable character and carried by a cylindricalrhub 23 surrounding thesleeve 19 of the steering knuckle; Suitable ball bearings 24 areinterposed'between the hub 23'and the sleeve 19 to facilitate therotation of the wheel, but as the hub is supported at the outer end'bymeans hereinafter described, itwilltnormally be found sufficient toprovide the ball bearings 24- at on] the inner end of the hub, .asillustrated in i 2.

Extending'through ,the sleeve 19 of. the-- steering knuckle is theouterend of znyfim-'= proved driving means; I This meanscomprises anaxle 25 separated from-'the-sleeve'19 y ball bearings 26and'27 adjacentthe 'oppo+ site ends of said sleeve and having its outer end 28extending out. througli'the endof the sleeve and rigidly or detachablyconnected-to an extension 29 of,the hub 23. It will thus be noted thatthe sleeve 19 of the steering knuckle projects outward between twoseparate rotating parts which are rigidly secured together, namely, thehub 23 which surrounds the sleeve, and the rotating axle 25. Theuniversal joints may be of any suitable character, but the universaljoint 33' is located in alinement with the axis of rotation of thespindle 13 of the steering knuckle, whereby when the said knuckle isrotated, the transmission of power to the vehicle wheel is not in anyway'interfered with. To take up the relative movement between the crossmember 11 and the vehicle body which sup orts the drive shaft 30, due tothe action of t e springs 10 interposed therebetween, I preferably makeone end of the shaft 32 square. in cross section and longitudinallymovable throu h the inner member of one of the universaloints.

The mechanism'for rotating the steering knuckle may be of anysuitablecharacter, as, for instance, an arm 35 integral with or rige asteering ed adjacent the end thefeo avehicle wheel idly secured tosaidknuckle and connected to a longitudinally movable and manuallycontrolledconnecting bar 36.

' Variousfdetails of construction illustrated in the drawings may bevaried within the scope of the appended claims, and various mechanismemp oyed for reducing the friction of the operatmg parts. The inner endof the axle 25 adjacent the universal joint 33 may, if desired, besupported above the steering knuckle by roller bearings 37, and othersuitable anti-friction. meansmay, if desired, be interposed between theupper end of the spindle 13 and its inclosing and supporting collar 14.p

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

1. A motor vehicle, com a cross member adapted to support t evehiclebody, knuckle plvotally connected to each end thereof, wheelsrotatably mounted upon said steering knuckles, a driving axle comprisinga plurality jof sections, one of said sections extending -through oneofthe steering 7 end, and the other of said sections being connectedthereto by a universal joint within said expanded end and anti-frictionbea s intermediate said expanded 'end and said' steering knuckle.

2. A motor veh cle, ,compris' a cross member, a steering knuckle ivota ymountknuckles and having an enlarged of-the bearings is seated.

said steering knuckle and disposed adjacent the intersection of the bodyof the section with the expanded end.

3. In a motor vehicle, the combination of.

a steerin knuckle having a pivot portion and a cy drical sleeve, avehlcle wheel rotatably mounted upon said sleeve, and a driving axlecomprising a plurality of sec tions, one of said sections extend'through said sleeve and the other of saiii? being connected thereto b auniversal joint, said sleeve being ex an ed adjacent each end thereof toprovi e for the'reception of anti-friction bearings between thesleeveand the first mentioned section of the axle, and

sections said section being expanded to'"form an enlarged end and ashoulder againstw-hich one In testimony whereof I have signed my name tothis specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' PAUL DANIEL. Witnesses:

CLAIR W. FAIRBANK, EVERARD B. MARSHALL,-

